Fleshy Climber Plant and feng shui

Fleshy Climber plant

 This fleshy climber is easy to grow and grow sin hardy and dry soil. the plant requires no special care and can grow even in toughest weather conditions. One of the prominent parts to see in this plant is that it is very heavy for a climber but still carries its weight by clinging t any support. grows near big trees or with support of a wall. You can guide this climber on a trellis as the aerial roots need to cling to climb or even ties strong strings or ropes for the plant to grow upwards..

Climber sending aerial  roots for support

This climber is considered very auspicious in feng shui as it grows upward and has stored energy in it. since the climber does not require much care to grow it is a storage of latent energy which is considered good in feng shui. It is mentioned in feng shui to avoid growing creepers and climbers that fall and grow in down ward direction as this will create a strong pulling force for everyone living in the home. Hence we try to avoid growing climbers and  creepers as they tend to ahve some part lower than the pot it is grown in. Even the money plant climber was a few years back advised to be avoided and many people following feng shui removed their healthy plants.
One important aspect to grow climbers according to feng shui is first of all they are stored energy and they grow upwards hence very good for career and wealth area of your garden. Try to avoid thick growth as the roots will damage your walls and create leakages in your home which is very bad for  your home members, as you spend more finance than what comes in. By guiding climbers for upward growth you can use climbers for best energy use for a feng shui garden and can uplift the energy in any area of your garden.
Important Tip- Trim the excess dangling fleshy stems for maintaining the shape of your climber. Do not allow this climber to grow off hand and keep a watch at its aerial roots so that they do not penetrate your walls, except for this the plant is a very good and attractive climber for your garden and will improve your garden design immensely by giving upward energy.

Lemon Grass - Green Tea Leaves Plant

Lemon grass considered one of the most fragrant plants for making herbal tea and especially in the chilly winters and rainy season the benefits that green tea leaves along with ginger give are immense.

Lemon Grass/ Green tea Leaves plant

 Since childhood we have been familiarized with green tea leaves and almost all houses had this grass planted. the grass is similar to any wild grass and it is very difficult to recognize any difference from far away. The fragrance though is a very prominent one and once you rub the leaves you can immediately recognize the distinct fragrance of lemon grass.

Lemon Grass, green tea leaves 

plant

Though not one of my favorites the tea is proved to have immense health benefits and hence many people plant the lemon grass in their homes to get a daily dose of good health. The plant is very easy and does not require much care for growing. The lemon grass plant needs a partially sunlight as the leaves will burn with direct sunlight for the whole day.
The lemon grass grows like wild and may need trimming to contain it in its pot, especially when it gets the right place, partial sunlight and regular watering. How to make herbal tea- The procedure for using this in herbal tea is to cut few strands of lemon grass and cut it into small pieces and add to the tea mixture while making tea. the boiling water will immediately release the fragrance of lemon grass and the concoction is very good for colds and coughs.
Tips for growing lemon grass plant- I see many places the lemon grass s dried and except for only a few strands in the center the plant looks like almost dead! Let us consider few important tips for healthy lemon grass growing.
Firstly keep the plant into a sheltered window sill or garden where it will receive only morning or evening sunlight and not for whole day as this plant cannot tolerate direct sunlight for full day and the leaves will dry off. Once the moisture is dried the leaves will also not give out its healthy benefits and fragrance. Also do remember when cutting leaves for use to make herbal tea, try to avoid cutting from the center. The plant forms new leaves from its center and when you pluck small new leaves the plant faces trauma and may stop new growth. Try to use leaves that are mature and from the out side of the plant that are long and will dry soon when not trimmed.
While watering the lemon grass plant take care to avoid watering in the hot sun as the leaves may burn. There will also be signs of dry tips on edges of leaves when the lemon grass plant does not get sufficient water according to its needs.

Blooming Orange Amaryllis Tips for flowering

Amaryllis Flowering Bulb

 Bring Feng shui energy to your garden with blooming flowering bulbs. There are many colours in Amaryllis flowers and our favorite is red and with its majestic blooms that command attention from far away the orange Amaryllis also seems to be blooming with beautiful orange flowers. The plant bulb is very easy to grow and Amaryllis are available in many colours. Though red seems to be the strongest colour there is orange, pink, peach, white, liliac and yellow that I know of.

Orange Amaryllis Flower Stalk

 The bulb takes years to bloom and once matured the bulb can give blooms every year. Summers are very hot but the blooms command attention with their colourful attractive display. Bulbs are very easy growing and do not require much care.

Close up of Orange Amaryllis

The Amaryllis flowering tips- Bulbs must be dry and kept for some time dipped in small container of water when you purchase them from a nursery. Now plant the bulbs in a small pot, that which will just cover the bulb and give it some space from sides. this will give you beautiful blooms soon. Do not plant Amaryllis in a very big pot for expectation of big blooms. The plant is no indicator of the size of your Amaryllis bloom, this will only encourage many small bulbs from sides as this Amaryllis is know to multiply very fast.
Watering care is not so important and this is a very good plant for people having green thumb as Amaryllis does not require any special care after planting and the bulb will take care of itself , with only watering, and even if you skip some time.
Another important tip for healthy Amaryllis flowers and big blooms is do not cut the leaves that grow on the plant. They are long dangling leaves that on the plant as also the flowering stalk after the blooms have dried must be let as it is on the plant and allowed to dry on the plant itself. This is very essential for the life of your Amaryllis bulb. Let the whole stalk dry on the plant and then later on when completely dried you can trim it off.
For a healthy feng shui energy in your garden without much care you must have Amaryllis bulbs as the blooms are really worth it.Orange and red flowers will uplift the energy of your garden and must be planted in the south and south east of your garden for wealth and fame luck. When you plant flowering plants in the south west it will bring new energy into existing relationships and also attract more positive energy to make new friends and acquaintances. since these plants do not die, the bulbs may show signs of all leaves drying but the energy stored is there in the bulb and when planted it will again bloom into a healthy plant. Hence bulbs are very auspicious in feng shui as they have more stored potential energy that is available to the individual.Hence gifting a Amaryllis bulb is very good sign of friendship and making new relationships and improving existing ones.

Garden Care Simplified

All the Best from Rizwana!

Read more on-

Hibiscus Plant care in Winter

Mussaenda Yellow Flower Shrub

Beetle Leaf Paan Climber

Snow daisy bush

Tips for cutting jack fruit

My Alexandrine Parakeet

Peach coloured Canna flowering plant tips

Thorns on Aloevera and Aloe Vera for weight loss

Understanding Feng Shui of Garden

Why Money plant rules as Feng Shui wealth Cure

Musk melon Plant Creeper Fruit

Designing Front and Back Garden design with feng shui

The Chinese Rose Flower Plant- Tips for Good Flowers on Chinese Rose

The Chinese Rose as this plant is frequently termed as is a flowering plant and can be grown very easily in pots and containers. Best seen growing in hanging baskets this is a fast growing flowering plant that is at its best in summers. In the scorching heat when most plants and flowers shrivel this Chinese rose flowers are at its best.

The term maybe because the Chinese rose flowers are similar to rose flowers but are smaller in size. They are available in many attractive colours and the best variety and the strongest ( by experience of growing many colours) is the magenta or rani pink variety. This Chinese rose plants are planted in planters and can be seen everywhere from restaurants to houses as grown in big containers to small hanging pots. 

The Chinese rose flowers will open their bud when they get sunlight and will close in early evenings. The life of a Chinese rose flower is very less and though the flower shows for few hours it is very colorful and attractive and chosen by many flower loving gardeners for its colourful blooms and easy growth. each flower will remain for a single day only and wither in early evening. But as the plant is grown in bunches you are assured of a good show everyday!

Pink Chinese Rose on Plant

 The Chinese rose flowers are available in many colours. The flowers are pink, white, yellow, peach and sometimes even shaded variety of flowers are available. The flowers also are of different shapes and sizes. You get small petals flowers and also the ones which have many overlapping petals. the variety which i now have is of small petal and this looks like a zinnia flower. We have had the peach, yellow and of course the original Chinese rose which had bushy magenta flowers which was very tough and healthy plant and it gave us blooms for many years and it could not tolerate the heavy downpour in rainy season and left us.

Chinese Rose plant

Bud of Chinese Rose on Plant

 Tips for growing Chinese Rose flowering Plant: The Chinese Rose plant is very easy to grow and will cover the whole pot within few days, I try to cut the stems coming healthy and keep planting them next to the mother plant, and very soon we see the whole pot covered in pink blooms. The Chinese rose grows best in hanging baskets and pots. This plant is used  as center or borders  in any landscape arrangements.
Choose a spot in your window or garden which receives maximum sunlight for healthy flowers. If the plant does not get enough sunlight the leaves look limpy and will not grow. A healthy Chinese rose plant will have erect stems and will have good blooms fast. The plant though looks very delicate is actually very sturdy and can survive quite some beatings from pigeons and other birds. As they pluck the delicate stems and throw them on the ground this plant will survive in indirect water also and even after few days if your plant the same stem into a pot they will immediately take root and begin growth. miracle plant!

Stem of Chinese Rose 

Plant

 I do remember this Chinese rose plant cutting was in my purse for many days and forgot about it, and as I found it the stem after many days I trimmed the edge and planted in mud immediately the plant stem was saved and took root. The Chinese rose plant needs regular watering as the summers are very hot and the plant grows best in the summer season. The plant will flower in summers and give extra colors to your feng shui garden and is considered very auspicious in feng shui as this Chinese rose plant brings positive , vibrant energy to your garden.

Shocking Pink Chinese Rose Flower on Plant

The Orange Fruits on Plant in Container

Oranges have been a favorite fruit for many due to its beautiful orange colour and the citrus fragrance. The orange fruit can be used in total as for juice and the cover skin , orange peel is used as flavorings for cakes and pastries.

With the onset of summer begins the season for oranges and our orange plant growing in container has also given out many white citrus smelling flowers. These flowers fall off their petals leaving behind a small center of green bud like fruit. This orange fruits grows in size and looks almost like a green lemon.

White Fragrant Flowers of Orange Plant

 Sitting near the orange plant in the evenings is a bliss as the citrus smell is everywhere. Scientifically it is proved that orange flowers are very good for migraines and anxiety as well as depression patients. The fragrance is truly of some citrus origin and it really uplifts your mood. A dose of citrus perfume in your own house, the freshness of the orange fruit and the hope of new juicy fruits all is enough motivation to grow the orange plant. Though we have a terrace garden and it is difficult to grow fruits in containers the orange fruit plant is easily grown and also does not require much care. The butterflies have a favorite fascination for this plant to lay larvae and the young caterpillars feed on the leaves.

New Leaves on Orange Plant in 

Container

Tip for good orange fruit on plant grown in container:  Cutting the extra stems on the orange fruit plant will encourage more and healthy big fruits on the plant. Fertilize the orange plant as soon as winter ends so that the nutrients are absorbed before the onset of fruits. After the orange fruit plant has begun flowering do not disturb the plant in any from except watering regularly.

Green Small Orange Fruits on Plant

Bunches of Green Orange Fruits on Plant

Ripe Juicy Orange Fruits on Plant in Container

 The juicy orange fruits on the tree are a welcome sight for everybody and even on touching the fruits the fragrant smell of oranges is in the air. And the best part is to enjoy a cool orange drink in the hot summer afternoon, nothing like orange juice to beat this heat!

The Flowering of Fragrant Anant plant

The white fragrant flower Anant has flowered to its ultimate beauty. the flowers have a distinct heavenly fragrance which can be sensed ever from far away. as the evening breeze brushes against the Anant plant the flowers spread the fragrance far away.
Gardenia is also a name it is known, in India this plant is called as Ghanda raj, ghanda-fragrance and raj- king, the king of fragrances.

The Anant plant was a common fragrant plant a few years back but now it has become extinct and rare. The Anant plant looks almost similar to the custard apple plant and the leaves are similar in shape and size. the plant has to be trimmed regularly if you need to maintain the Anant plant in shape of a bush. the Anant will grow into a full fledged tree and you will know if an Anant is growing in your vicinity due to their heavenly fragrance which travels for quite a distance especially during warm summer days and cool evenings.
The flower like the Rajni Gandha and the Mogra will be at its best from evenings and night and their fragrance is at its peak in the evening.

Flowering of the Fragrant Anant Plant

White Fragrant Anant Flower on Plant

Fragrant Anant Flower Bud on Plant

 The buds have appeared on t he Anant plant as the onset of summer and the whole area is surrounded with the fragrance. A walk past the Anant plant in the cool evenings is so refreshing and an  experience out of this world.

White Anant Flower on Plant

White Fragrant Anant Flower in Full Bloom

Care of Anant plant grown in Container- The anant plant requires a dry and hardy soil. the plant will grow into a bush f trimmed accordingly , otherwise it will grow as a full fledged tree. The sight of the Anant tree is also beautiful when laden with white fragrant flowers.
The Anant plant does not requrie much care except for fertilizing according to normal flowering plants. Watering can also be skipped and the plant can tolerate direct sunlight. The Anant plant grown in container requires regular trimming to keep the bush in shape and also to encourage flowering in the Anant plant.
The more the trimming of the anant plant, the more the plant is encouraged to bloom soon. The plant grows on its own and does not require any special care. And the blooms are a treat to all your senses. A combination of beauty and fragrance is seen in the anant flowers.

The Flowering of Chickoo Plant

Chickoo Plant White Flower 

 The Chickoo plant has given flowers for the second time now after planting the chickoo plant for a year. At first thought the flower buds looked like tiny chickoo fruits and I thought that they are fruits coming up. The flowers had a brown covering on the bud and as they opened the white beautiful flowers were visible. It looked almost like the commonly known Brahma Kamal here, saussaurea obvallata,  flower except that these flowers were small in size.

White Flowers on Chickoo Plant

Close Up of Chickoo Flower

The flowers are making way for new green leaves and the plant is in full swing of growth. And here is excitement of the fruits coming some time.
Care of Chickoo Plant in Container- The chickoo plant has been planted in a big container for the plant to grow into a full fledged tree. The plant requires tough and hardy soil that can hold the heavy plant together. Fertilizer will be required every six months to see the fruiting for fruit plants grown in containers. Watering is required on daily basis for the fruiting season as the plant requires moisture to retain the fruits . Other wise the fruits will drop off the plant when they face prolonged dry periods.
The chickoo fruits may need acre and protection from the birds though I have planted these fruit trees especially for welcoming birds in our terrace garden, and they sure are taking over the whole place!